Region Digest: 2 charged in home invasion

Region Digest: 2 charged in home invasion

GADSDEN, Ala.

Gadsden police say two men have been charged with capital murder and robbery after a home invasion at an apartment.

Police Capt. Regina May said Monday that 24-year-old Roger Dale Jordan and 30-year-old Robert Jacob Trotman were charged.

Police said 32-year-old Christopher Allen Johnson, of Gadsden, was killed when he and his brother-in-law came home from shopping the night before Thanksgiving and surprised the robbers, who already were robbing Johnson's roommate and his friend.

May said Jordan and Trotman were ransacking the apartment when Johnson and his brother-in-law came in and were ordered to the floor. Police say that, as the men fled, Johnson was shot.

Police saidJordan is in prison for previous convictions, and Trotman is in the Etowah County Jail on a probation violation.

MONROE COUNTY, Tenn.

Pastors unite to fight meth

A gathering of pastors and their congregations to pray about methamphetamine and other illegal substances affecting children and families in Tennessee will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Monroe County Courthouse.

The courthouse is at 105 College St. in Madisonville, Tenn.

The group will petition through public prayer to reinstate the Ten Commandments into all the courthouses in Tennessee, among other things.

For more information, call pastor David Cooper at 865-898-1799, event coordinator Rachael Fann at 865-382-6118 or send an email to operationpush@yahoo.com.

DeKALB COUNTY, Ala.

Deputies seek man in shooting

DeKalb County sheriff's deputies are searching for a man suspected of being involved in a shooting off County Road 85 on Monday afternoon.

Jeffery Steven Williams was shot in the arm with a handgun and then crashed his car on the way to the hospital, Sheriff Jimmy Harris said in a news release.

Authorities are searching for Shawn Ray Willis, who is suspected of shooting Williams about two miles from the scene of Williams' car accident, Harris said.

When paramedics responded to a car accident just outside the Fort Payne city limits, they found Williams with a gunshot wound in the arm, Harris said. Williams is in serious condition at Huntsville Hospital but is expected to recover.

Police advise that Willis could be armed.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Willis is asked to call the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office at 256-845-3801.

GATLINBURG, Tenn.

Smokies road opening early

Clingmans Dome Road, the road to the highest point in the Smokies, is opening two days early.

The National Park Service says the road will be open to traffic this morning. It usually is opened on April 1, but the snow has melted and the visitor station, restrooms and other facilities are ready, so the road will be opened today.